3 bar menu

Last Embryo Volume 7 Chapter 3 Part 6

Especially the natives who were present at the training ground. In their eyes, the feelings of expectation and admiration were very strongly reflected.

Now, may of the people finally realized why James chose to advise Asterios. Because the Sun Authority of Taurus that he possessed was the most important trump card needed to win this Game.

If he didn’t find a way to influence Asterios and his actions in some way, then it would be impossible for him to collect all of the rewards in the first round of the War. In other words, this man had his own ulterior motives for helping Asterios and the natives from the very beginning.

「… I see. I think that I completely understand the situation now. Looks like the odds are stuck pretty much in your favor, James.」

「Well, I never pick up a fight without having any chances of winning.」

「But Taurus’s Keraunos by itself would never be enough to win against someone like Typhon. Could it be that as the winner of the first round you have already acquired another trump card necessary to beat him?」

「What did you say?!」

Asuka shouted. Summing up Alma’s story that they heard from her just now, they are going to need two things in order to defeat Demon Lord Typhon: the Lightning of Keraunos to best him in combat, and the Star Fruit to seal his power.

These two things were what allowed Zeus to finally best Typhon, so they obviously are going to need them as well.

No matter how strong the Players participating in the 2nd War for the Sun’s Authority are, it is impossible to win against the Demon Lord who defeated the Chief God Zeus without all the trump cards firmly in their hands.

James narrowed his eyes and pulled out a Gift Card with a smile.

「With you here, talking about everything really is much faster, so I am grateful to you for that…. it is indeed as you say. I have already managed to locate the place where the Star Fruit was growing and obtained its seed.」

「Was it really here? It was growing in Atlantis?」

「That’s right. This continent is the corpse of the Demon Lord Typhon after all. In other words, we now have something that was not mentioned in the legend: the land that was fed with the fruit.」

At James’ deduction, Asuka clapped her hands when she realized what he meant by that.

「The seeds of the Star Fruit that was growing in Atlantis… in other words, you mean the seeds of the legendary Fruit of Fate that caused Demon Lord Typhon to lose his power when he ate it?!」

「That’s right. This Star Fruit is also a rather dangerous plant. It seems to have the property of absorbing all substances and fluids from its surroundings and grow infinitely because of it. It was parasiting on a large ore vein that contained the crystals of the Star Particle Bodies, the same kind that is infused with Demon Lord Typhon’s heart, and sucking up all of its power.」

「Uwaah, what is up with that? It sounds like something taken straight out of a horror movie.」

Suzuka shuddered at the mere thought of it. She must have imagined a scene of an unknown plant invading her body spreading itself all throughout it.

「Is there such a tree in our world?」

「That’s not part of my obligation to answer that question… but if you’d like to speculate, this plant must take in crystals of Star Particle Bodies into itself in order to grow to a certain size, so it’s possible that the original species has survived somewhere in the Outer World. Even in Little Garden, the one growing here in Atlantis should be the only one left.」

All that talk suddenly reminded Izayoi of the olive trees.

(In this area, the original organisms from long ago still remain intact, so isn’t that strange that a mysterious plant is practically extinct by now?)

It also didn’t escape Izayoi’s attention that apparently James was aware of the existence of Star Particle Bodies. In that case, this man, who is most likely from the modern era, should also know how 『Ouroboros』 is related to Star Particle Bodies, so it’s not impossible for him to dig up information around that once he got the chance.

「Now that we have two victory conditions in our hands, there is only one action we must take. Defeat Demon Lord Typhon.」

「… You really think so?」

(Shady.)
(Definitely shady.)
(So shady it hurts.)

The participants were all united for a moment.

「The immediate enemies can be divided into three categories: The army of giants, the continent of Atlantis, the body of the Demon Lord Typhon, the avatar where his spirit dwells, and his companions. In addition to these three, it is necessary to divide the troops into four units in order to implant the Star Fruit seeds into the hearts of the enemies. Any objections to that?」

「No, but I do have a question though. How are you going to keep pace with the outside Players you haven’t been able to contact?」

「I have already managed to contact the Players that are currently outside of the continent.」

If he planned that far ahead, then there was no need for Izayoi to be saying anything more. As for the division of the troops…

「Okay, I understand. But as for the division of the troops, then wouldn’t it be better to leave that matter to us?

「Huh? Why is that? Is it because I can’t be trusted?」
「Of course, you moron. When it comes to creditability, it can be safely said that all of the Players beside your closest buddies are your enemies and competitors. So if someone as shady as you who managed to win the first round and obtain all of the rewards were to start bossing us around and dividing the troops however you see fit, then naturally complaints will start popping up one after another.」

He looked at James in astonishment, and he nodded back appreciatively.

「Hmm… you’re really good after all. If possible, I’d like you to do the command and organization then.」

「Since you want me to decide everything, then first thing’s first, I want you to stay in your room. That, or you can coordinate the start of the overall operation, including the natives.」

「Understood. Coordinating the overall schedules is one of my specialties. I’ll leave the rest to you then.」

James turns on his heels and turns his back to all the Players while intending to leave… but Asterios stopped him, shouting at his back.

「Wait, James! We still haven’t talked about the most important thing, haven’t we?」

「Hmm?」

James turned around, tilting his head. Izayoi also made a strange face.

Did the two facilitators still had to talk about something else together? Normally, now that they finished grilling James, there should be nothing more important left then the matter of the division of the troops, but Asterios’ expression was more tense than ever. Curious about what this might be about, Izayoi asked Asterios from behind him.

「What’s wrong? You want to ask him something as a king?」

「… I guess you can say that. I want to ask about something related to 『Yggdrasil』, the Community that Demon Lord Typhon supposedly belongs to.」

All participants begin to listen closely when they heard that. The words of Asterios, who was welcomed as the king of this land, cannot be ignored. That, and maybe they could also use them against James if they’re going to contain some lore that hasn’t been told to them yet.

However, the words that came out of Asterios’ mouth betrayed the expectations of the participants.

「The current demon lord Typhon uses the body of an incarnated human…. isn’t that right, Heracles?」

「Yes, there is no doubt about it.」

「Then who is this incarnation, and why is it one of the victims of Star Particle Bodies research? I feel that we should explain at least that much to the Players.」

Priestess Akasha and Assistant Priestess Lalah were immediately surprised by Asterios’ words. Even Izayoi couldn’t believe his ears. He did not know until this moment that the incarnation of the demon king Typhon was a subject of Star Particle Bodies research. He simply assumed that he was an incarnation of some mythical figure.

Moreover, Asterios called the avatar of the current Typhon a victim. In other words, he knows that the incarnation of Typhon is the subject experimental subject of Star Particle Bodies research.

But in that case, who gave Asterios that information?